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George Bryant – Marine, New York Times Bestselling Author, Bonus Dad, Founder of Civilized Cooking Caveman

Marine, successful author, innovator in the field of the Paleo Diet. These accolades don’t exactly trigger images of someone you might believe has had to battle through some of life’s greatest challenges.

Though, George Bryant is just that man. It is only through his incredibly difficult childhood, one of tremendous neglect and abuse, that he found his true strength. George has taken what could have been one heck of an excuse to opt out of being successful in life and turned it into the ultimate inspiration.

George Bryant on Authenticity

The tough guy exterior can only get you so far. It’s blending that “though guy” with a vulnerability that makes you a whole man. You don’t to have a pack of Kleenex on you 24/7, but finding a way to open yourself up to the possibility of being vulnerable, might just open the relationships you have, in every aspect of your life, to greater level.

Struggles will make you stronger

Many times on The GDP, we’ve had guests express the importance of coming to peace with yourself. Embracing whatever past hurts, either from childhood or adulthood, allow us to be more present to others at home, at work and in every relationship. If we bury these emotions or hurts, they will manifest themselves in other, possibly negative, ways.

George Bryant manifested his hurts in binging and purging. (READ: Eating a bunch of food and then proceeding to throw it up.) Every time he would feel pain, this cycle would start. It only stopped and his incredible success story began when he finally faced his past. Now, he conquers food like a cave man, and is an inspiration to many others; namely his “bonus daughter” (step-daughter) and his wife.

Being at peace with your past

Granted, not everyone has had a really tough childhood, or gone through horrendous change in their lives, but each of us can learn to turn negative situations into empowering opportunities. It’s these opportunities where we get the chance to show our kids how to be resilient and grow from pain or failure. George says it’s in these times that children will ask “why?” In the midst of our own pain and angst, we may just want to brush them off. Look at this differently, though says George. These children look to you for guidance. As a matter of fact, the mere act of their asking you why is because they respect your opinion. Wow. That, in itself, should be motive enough for answering that little question. In doing so, you show your children that you respect them, too, and that they matter. Being at peace with your past and opening up to vulnerability is tough, but the rewards are infinite-cave man or not.

George Bryant Links:

If you enjoyed this episode Learning from Life’s Big Challenges and becoming a Bonus Dad with George Bryant. Leave your comments below as we would love to hear your thoughts so we can continue to provide you with content you enjoy.